September 7, 2009 at 8:53 am
Just going through the forums like you do, and I thought about the telephone interview that I just had during my lunch break.
9 Minutes, not long to tell my lifes history but it sufficed. Apparently it was to find out my personality... So I done amazingly fantastic or totally crap. No doubt I will find out later today if my communication skills and 'Personality' are up to scratch. Never had a personality test before, could be interesting to know if I am asked to attend a proper interview. 😛
Just had the phone call, apparently my answers were too brief 😉
nevermind their loss not mine 😎
anyone else had anything similiar.
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September 7, 2009 at 9:57 am
It's a pain isn't it!
Telephone interview just to find out your personality, but you are rejected because your answers were too brief! How does that reflect your personality?
Obviously you should have waffled on about nothing - then they would have 'liked' you, regardless of your suitablility for the job.
Thats what I hate about telephone interviews (and I've been on both sides), you can't read peoples reactions, so you have to just answer the question. It's easier to 'see' if more is needed just by reading peoples faces/body language etc.
Kev
September 8, 2009 at 2:24 am
I have only had a limited number of telepjone interviews. The last one was not good. We did not even start before it was over. The agency failed to inform him of my availability and so it was a flat goodbye.
In hind sight I think I should have tried to engage him and get him to carry on with the interview. That way I would have learnt more about what his company are up to and what they might need help with in the future. But he did seem to want to put the phone down so that was that.
I also consider speaking to some recruitment agencies as a kind of interview. You want to find out if you want to work with them to secure a job and they are considering if they want to invest their time finding you a job.
I had to chase one the other day for four hours for a peach of a job just miles from home on a low rate that I could do standing on my head with both eyes closed. I would be an excellent choice for them. I wont repeat the conversation but I will not be using that agency.
Mark.
September 8, 2009 at 3:13 am
Ells (9/8/2009)
I have only had a limited number of telepjone interviews. The last one was not good. We did not even start before it was over. The agency failed to inform him of my availability and so it was a flat goodbye.In hind sight I think I should have tried to engage him and get him to carry on with the interview. That way I would have learnt more about what his company are up to and what they might need help with in the future. But he did seem to want to put the phone down so that was that.
I also consider speaking to some recruitment agencies as a kind of interview. You want to find out if you want to work with them to secure a job and they are considering if they want to invest their time finding you a job.
I had to chase one the other day for four hours for a peach of a job just miles from home on a low rate that I could do standing on my head with both eyes closed. I would be an excellent choice for them. I wont repeat the conversation but I will not be using that agency.
Mark.
ouch, I know the feeling well, sometimes a role is too good to be true and it normally is. the ones that you want are normally the hardest to get. you can get paid for interviewing people across the phone. There is a agency called the dream team and if you are registered with them as a technical 'expert'. they can call you and ask if you would screen for them and you can get paid for making the phone call. I havent bothered in doing it, even though i am known to them. but i know others who have been paid.
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September 8, 2009 at 3:51 am
It will come up again. I can remember the same contract being advertised a year ago so it will probably come around again. The money was not good but working close to home would be nice.
😎
Looks like someone else is recruiting for my peach of a job. Hey ho Hey ho its off on the phone we go.
Mark.
September 8, 2009 at 9:12 am
I've had lots of phone interviews, typically with HR or a manager, mostly to check if we are likely a match for each other. I guess it's partially personality, partially to pre-screen.
Interviews are tough, but it's not like you should be great at all of them. There are times it's not a good fit on one side, and you let those go. If nothing else, think of it as practice for the next one.
Good luck on the job search.
September 8, 2009 at 9:24 am
No worries Steve, got another 4-5 weeks before i finish here, unless they want to keep me longer. it was the 1st time i have had a telephone interview purely for personality. hopefully it will be the last.
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September 8, 2009 at 9:50 am
Its all good practice.
Mark.
September 8, 2009 at 9:58 am
I think a tech interview over the phone is fine. That's just testing what you know. Personality through the phone? I doubt that's useful. 90% of communication is body language, facial expression, where the eyes are pointing, etc. Phone would be better than e-mail, since at least you get lag and tone of voice on the phone, but it's not going to be much good.
I've both delivered and received a lot of personality tests. Most of them come under the heading of "Astrology Before it was a Science." (Each sign has the horoscope: "You will take vague generalities about work and life as applying specifically to you.")
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
September 8, 2009 at 10:04 am
Well the first thing she said to me, was she had spoken to 7 people that morning before me. there was only really 2 questions that she asked and i remembered.
What would you describe as your strengths
how do you normally deal with third party's.
nothing technical and no details about the role or the company.
This phone call was apparently to decide who was to go forward to a face to face interview.
Kind of ironic, considering on paper, I was considered one of the strongest candidates.
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September 8, 2009 at 10:29 am
Sounds like you were interviewed by some HR weenie.
I never let HR get any more involved in the hiring process for DBAs than contacting recruiters and placing advertisements. I always insist that they send me all resumes that they receive, because I do not consider them qualified to screen a DBA candidate.
Unfortunately, some companies have fallen victim to recruiting gurus pushing expensive tests that have very little value to anyone except the people selling them. Fortunately, the company I work for is so cheap that they would never go for something like that.
September 8, 2009 at 11:12 am
Two things to take from that experience.
1. If the phone interview is just those two questions then whoever thought that was a good selection process should never be allowed to make those sorts of decisions.
2. As a company if that is their public face ehrn yjey want to impress you whats it going to be like once you are working there?
Mark.
September 8, 2009 at 11:53 am
Michael Valentine Jones (9/8/2009)
Sounds like you were interviewed by some HR weenie.I never let HR get any more involved in the hiring process for DBAs than contacting recruiters and placing advertisements. I always insist that they send me all resumes that they receive, because I do not consider them qualified to screen a DBA candidate.
Unfortunately, some companies have fallen victim to recruiting gurus pushing expensive tests that have very little value to anyone except the people selling them. Fortunately, the company I work for is so cheap that they would never go for something like that.
ROFLMAO, have to be very careful here, in case Gail gives me a slap. The woman that I spoke to is the Database Administrator Manager and she was the 1st dba in the company, they also employ other women dba's :-P. 'feel my feet sinking, like quicksand' must remember to walk softly in my next paragraph.
Maybe my feminine side was slightly lacking and I didnt establish a close enough rapport 😛
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[highlight]Recommended Articles on How to help us help you and[/highlight]
[highlight]solve commonly asked questions[/highlight]
Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help by Jeff Moden[/url]
Managing Transaction Logs by Gail Shaw[/url]
How to post Performance problems by Gail Shaw[/url]
Help, my database is corrupt. Now what? by Gail Shaw[/url]
September 8, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Michael Valentine Jones (9/8/2009)
Sounds like you were interviewed by some HR weenie.I never let HR get any more involved in the hiring process for DBAs than contacting recruiters and placing advertisements. I always insist that they send me all resumes that they receive, because I do not consider them qualified to screen a DBA candidate.
Unfortunately, some companies have fallen victim to recruiting gurus pushing expensive tests that have very little value to anyone except the people selling them. Fortunately, the company I work for is so cheap that they would never go for something like that.
I recently took an SQL 2005 DBA Dev test. Amost half the questions (14 out of 36) were about CLR. Another one asked which of the four solutions presented would I use, when two wouldn't work at all, one wouldn't get the desired results, and the only remaining one used a triangular join. Had to pick the triangular join, since it was obviously "the right answer", even though a simple use of a Numbers table would have been the correct solution. Another question required that I do pivot and unpivot operations in my head (couldn't access BOL, SSMS, etc., during the test).
The test was quite obviously, from look, feel, answers given, etc., written by academics, not by actual SQL Devs. It had three questions on it that I would have actually considered even vaguely a measure of real-world knowledge. And nowhere did it ask the necessary, "okay, you can stop pretending now, you're not a DBA" type questions, like "what's the difference between a clustered index and a phone book?", or "are covering indexes warmer than non-covering ones, and which one provides better protection from sunburn?" or "if you shoot the SAN with an RPG, will DBCC find errors in the data files that were stored on it?" (Well, something like those.)
Apparently the average score on the test is 46%, even with experienced, professional DBAs. Instead of concluding that the test might be flawed, the consensus amongst HR types is that it's "a really tough test". (I got 76% and that put me in the 90th percentile aparently.)
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
September 8, 2009 at 12:53 pm
How would I do with these answers?
What would you describe as your strengths?
I can answer really stupid questions without letting my contempt for the person asking the question show.
How do you normally deal with third parties?
I tell them to get their pathetic products working if they expect to ever see another support dollar.
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